1. Field
The present application relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to methods and systems for facilitating communication between a wireless device and a macro network using a dual mode base station.
2. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication (e.g., voice, data, multimedia services, etc.) to multiple users. As the demand for high-rate and multimedia data services rapidly grows, there lies a challenge to implement efficient and robust communication systems with enhanced performance.
In recent years, users have started to replace fixed line communications with mobile communications and have increasingly demanded great voice quality, reliable service, and low prices. In addition to mobile phone networks currently in place, a new class of small base stations has emerged, which may be installed in a user's home and provide indoor wireless coverage to mobile units using existing broadband internet connections. Such personal miniature base stations are generally known as an access point (AP) base station, also referred to as Home Node B (HNB) unit, femto cell, femto base station (fBS), base station, or base station transceiver system (BTS). Typically, such miniature base stations are connected to the internet and the mobile operator's network via a digital subscriber line (DSL) router or cable modem.
AP base stations or femto cells allow for cellular access where base station support is weak or unavailable (e.g., indoors, remote locations, and the like). AP base stations may be described as small base stations that connect to wireless service providers via a broadband backhaul link, such as DSL, cable internet access, T1/T3, etc., and offer typical base station functionality, such as base transceiver station (BTS) technology, radio network controller, and gateway support node services. This allows an access terminal (AT), also referred to as a cellular/mobile device or handset, or user equipment (UE), to connect to the AP base stations and utilize the wireless service. It is noted that ATs can include, for example, cellular phones, smart phones, laptops, handheld communication devices, handheld computing devices, satellite radios, navigational devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and/or any other suitable device for communicating over a wireless communication system.
Sometimes the backhaul associated with a given AP base station may not be available for a whole host of reasons, including but not limited to when there is outage or failure of the backhaul or when the backhaul is intentionally disconnected. It is noted that the backhaul may not be available during normal backhaul operations, such as when the backhaul service provider is running or performing a maintenance procedure, a line adjustment, an upgrade, a test, or the like, or combinations thereof. The running of such tests, upgrades, etc. may be common or routine for residential backhauls or the like. In situations where such backhaul outages occur (planned or unplanned) and/or the signal strength for communications from/to a macro base station is weak, it would be desirable to provide an alternative way to facilitate communication between a given AT and the macro network. Accordingly, there is a need for a method and system for implementing an AP base station that provides wireless redundancy in case the backhaul is not available, or in case one or more ATs do not have access to the AP base station despite being the coverage area of the AP base station.